Fifth. Ninth. Eighth. Fifth again. A couple more eighths. And even a fourth.

That’s just a sample of the national preseason rankings being bestowed upon the Nevada basketball team, and those numbers explain why the expectations surrounding the team have never been so high.

Nevada (coming off a 29-8 season) has fielded basketball teams since 1913, but no prior team has received the sort of national acclaim the Wolf Pack is currently receiving. Not even close.

In the past, competing for conference titles and having a chance to be mentioned in the NCAA Tournament’s selection show was as high as the bar went for Nevada fans. But head coach Eric Musselman, entering his fourth season at Nevada, has changed all that. Now, the 2018-19 edition of the Wolf Pack is hearing words such as “return to the Sweet 16” and “potential Final Four team” being mentioned in the same sentence as “Nevada.”

The roster is loaded; the schedule is compelling. The Wolf Pack is all over social media. Season tickets are sold out; Lawlor Events Center will be jammed and loud. It’s safe to say the anticipation needle is all the way into the red.

Now, it’s just up to Musselman and an all-star cast of players to manage the expectations and not let it become a distraction. That’s something that’s become harder for contemporary coaches than it was during Musselman’s playing days at San Diego from 1983-87.

“Because of the impact of social media, we have to address (expectations) with our team,” Musselman said. “Because they’re on social media; if we act like it’s not there, if we act like there’s no noise, that’s make-believe. We don’t live in a fantasy world; it’s out there.

“We have shown our guys a ton of preseason top 25 teams (over the years) that did not make the (NCAA) tournament. We’ve still got to get into that tournament somehow, and it’s really hard. It’s really hard if you’re a Power 5 school and you’re playing in a great conference, and it’s even harder where we are. The minute we lose sight of that, we’re going to be one of those teams that, a year from now, someone else is talking about (missing the tournament).”

Wolf Pack guard/forward Jordan Caroline is one of the top returning players on the Nevada roster.(Photo11: Jim Brown, Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports)

With Nevada coming off an NCAA regional semifinals appearance — and one possession away from an Elite 8 berth — last season, anticipation for the 2018-19 campaign was already high. It climbed skyward in May when the entire core of last season’s Mountain West champions announced they were removing their names from NBA draft consideration and returning to Reno for their senior seasons.

What was already a solid roster immediately became one of the best and deepest in the nation. The return to school of seniors Cody Martin (team-leading 4.7 assists per game), his twin brother Caleb Martin (team-best 18.9 points per game), and Jordan Caroline (team-best 8.6 rebounds per game) took Nevada from a regional power with Mountain West title aspirations to a team capable of playing on any national stage. Combined, the trio accounted for more than 61 percent of the team’s offense last season; all three are legitimate Mountain West player of the year candidates.

“The best way to deal with hype is to just kind of tune it out,” Caleb Martin said. “We have to realize that we are a new team, and we haven’t really done anything with this team yet. Preseason accolades and expectations are just assumptions. People are just basing that on the type of talent we have and what we could do, not what we’ve done already.”

In addition to managing the expectation and hype surrounding his team, Musselman and his staff face another challenge — namely, only one basketball at a time is used in games. With a deep roster full of proven Division I talent — along with the addition of McDonald’s All-American Jordan Brown, Nevada’s biggest recruiting win in school history — things such as playing time, shots, points, and expected roles could become an issue.

But Mussleman is probably as prepared as any other coach in the nation to handle egos and spot potential issues before they become a drain on the entire team. His basketball career has included coaching and general manager stops at just about every level of the game, from the college ranks, to the CBA and NBA G-League, to the NBA itself, where he led both the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings.

It should also help that there will be no secrets kept from the Pack’s players this season. More than ever before, Nevada players will be receiving information on their practice performance and where they stand, evaluation-wise, on a continuous basis. Want to wear “Nevada” across your chest? Then you’ll have to earn it.

“On any team I’ve ever coached, the coaches don’t make the decisions on who plays; the players do, based on their performance,” Musselman said. “We’re charting and stat-ing everything. If we do a shooting drill, we chart it and stat it; if we’re scrimmaging, we’re charting it and stat-ing it. Our players get a daily update, and then a weekly update, on where they stand. It’s a highlighted system we use, and (players) know what color is positive and what color means they’ve got to work on an area.”

In addition to the Wolf Pack’s “big three” returning players, Musselman continued his trend of bringing in transfers from all parts of the country to fill out the roster. The big get for this season was 6-foot-11 Trey Porter, a senior who already has an undergraduate degree from Old Dominion. And four transfers who sat out a mandatory year are now eligible: Corey Henson (Wagner), Jazz Johnson (Portland), Tre’Shawn Thurman (Omaha), and Nisre Zouzoua (Bryant).